Metro Transit aims to persuade suburban riders to hop Green Line
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As the Green Line extension to the southwest metro nears completion, Metro Transit is beginning a campaign to get people to ride the trains.
Why it matters: Metro Transit is still struggling to win back passengers after the pandemic, as train ridership fell 14% last year and remains well below 2019 levels.
What we're watching: Metro Transit and the Met Council have declined to provide specifics on when service will begin, beyond saying it will be sometime in 2027.
Flashback: In 2018, the Met Council estimated the 14.5-mile Green Line extension would provide 29,000 rides a week upon opening, and the organization has not updated its estimates since then.
Between the lines: If ridership is weak, it could hurt the Met Council's efforts to build a Blue Line extension to the northwest metro.
- The agency has taken heavy criticism from Republicans and Democrats at the Capitol over its management of the Green Line project, which is nearly $1.75 billion over its initial $1.25 billion budget and nine years behind schedule.
What they're saying: Metro Transit GM Lesley Kandaras told Axios that her staff is reaching out to suburban riders who may not be as familiar with light rail, focusing on public safety, including visits to suburban city councils beginning in June.
- "We know there's a perception that transit struggles with public safety that is rooted in reality, too, in many ways," she said. "I think we've really overcome some challenges, and we still have work ahead of us."
Kandaras pointed to rider survey results published last year showing that passengers are feeling safer on the system since it implemented a safety and security plan.
What we're watching: While safety perceptions remain a challenge, some things are working in favor of mass transit.
⛽️ Gas prices have surpassed $4 a gallon, and when that's happened before, transit ridership has surged. However, it's not clear whether those prices will remain elevated into 2027.
🚘 Parking downtown is getting tighter — evidenced by increased municipal parking revenues — as more workers have been called back to the office.
🏗️ Multifamily housing development has boomed around stations since construction on the line began, and those residents mean more riders.
Zoom in: No area has been hotter than Minnetonka's Opus Station, where developers have built more than 1,900 units within a half-mile of the platform, according to a Met Council tracker.
Minnetonka police chief Scott Boerboom told Axios that Metro Transit has assured his department there will be a transit police presence on the train.
- "We're going to support them, and if need be, we will also have a presence on the platforms or on the train as well," he said.